Radio time switch



J. C. DABKOWSKI RADIO TIME SWITCH Filed Dec. 15, 1947 V IN VEN TOR.

JOSEPH 0. DABKOWSK/ Feb. 13, 1951 Patented Feb. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to radio time switches,

and more particularly to a switch for automatically interrupting the supply of power to a radio or other electrical appliance at the end of a predeterminedperiod of time.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above nature, wherein a timing mechanism will overbalance a weighted operating member at the end of the predetermined time period for actuating the circuit-breaking means.

Another object is to provide a device of the above nature in which the weighted operating member will function by virtue of its balance, whereby the use of latches will be avoided.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appear- I ance, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the radio time II, vertical side walls I2, I3, which are extended downwardly in order to support the bottom wall II in elevated position, and a horizontal top wall I4. The cabinet Ill is also provided with a pair of swingable doors I5, I8, whereby the front of the cabinet may be closed after the device has been set in operation.

The side wall I3 is provided with an aperture I! (Fig. 1) which supports an electric outlet receptacle I8 of conventional type. The receptacle I8 will serve as a means for connecting the power supply cord of the radio or other electrical appliance which is to be controlled. Power is furnished to the receptacle I3 by means of a cord II] which will receive power from any suitable source. The cord I9 enters the cabinet I0 through a bushing in the bottom wall I I, and is connected to the receptacle I8 by means of conductors 2|, 22, 23, and a circuit-breaking means 24 in series with the receptacle I8.

The circuit-breaking means 24, such as a microswitch, is provided with an upstanding actuating lever 25 which will break the electric circuit when it is moved toward the left (as seen in Fig. 1). The lever 25 will be operated by means including a spring-driven timing mechanism 26 having a manually settable pointer arm 21 which will be rotated at a constant speed over a graduated dial 25 mounted on the front surface of the timing device. The dial 28 may be graduated in seconds, minutes, or hours, as desired.

The outer end of the arm 2'! has a pointer 29 which serves as an index on the dial 23, and an outstanding lug 30 which is adapted to engage an upstanding finger 3| at the end of an upper arm 32a of a bell-crank trip lever 32. The trip lever 32 is carried for lateral swinging movement over the upper end of a vertical bracket 33 mounted on the bottom wall II, and includes a lower arm in the form of a threaded rod 34. The threaded rod 34 has an angular end portion 35 secured to the upper arm 32a of the lever 32 as by soldering or welding, and carries a knurled thumb nut 36 which serves as an adjustable weight, whereby the center of gravity or balance point of the bell crank lever 32 may be adiusted.

The upper arm 32a of the trip lever 32 is connected to the actuating lever 25 of the circuit breaking means 24 by means of a cord 3! of such a length that it will be in a slack condition when the trip lever 32 is set in position for engagement by the lug 38, as shown in Fig. 1.

The length of the cord 3'! will be so adjusted that the cord will be brought into taut condition after the pointer arm 2! has swung the trip ever I 32 sufficiently toward the left to carry its center of gravity beyond the balance point.

The movement of the trip lever 32 will be lim-- ited by the engagement of the threaded rod 34 with an upper abutment 38 and a lower abutment 39 which are provided by the ends of a vertical slot 4i! formed in the upper portion of a vertical reset rod ii. The rod 4! is reciprocable in an aperture 42 in the bottom wall it of the cabinet, but is normally held stationary by means of an integral intermediate flange 43 which is held against the upper surface of the bottom wall I I by a coiled spring 44 engaged between the lower surface of the wall II and a handle A5 on the lower end of said rod.

Operation In operation, the timing mechanism 26 will first be wound up and the cord iii connected to a suitable source of electric current.

The radio or other appliance which is to be controlled will then be plugged into the electric receptacle [8. The pointer arm 2'! of the timing mechanism 26 will. then be moved counterclock wise manually in order to provide a desired time period as indicated by the dial 2.8, during which. electric current will be supplied to the receptacle [8.

The timing mechanism 26 will then operate to swing the arm 2'! clockwise at a constant rate of speed, and eventually the lug 39 will engage the finger 3| to overturn the trip lever 32. During the first part of the movement of the lever 32, the slack of the cord 31' will be taken up, and during this interval, no force will be exerted upon the actuating lever 25 of the circuit-breaking means 24. However, as soon as the lever 32 has become overbalanced it will move rapidly to the left, whereupon the slack of the cord 31 will be suddenly taken up, and the actuating arm 25 moved toward the left to break the circuit through the receptacle l8, thereby turning off the radio or other appliance.

If it is found that the bell crank trip lever 32 is not overbalanced at the proper point to produce the most efficient operation, the thumb nut 36 may be adjusted in order to shift its center of gravity.

When it is desired to place the radio or other appliance in operation again, the reset handle 45 will be pressed upwardly so that the abutment 39 will move the threaded rod 34 upwardly and thereby restore the trip lever 32 to its operative position, as shown in Fig. 2.

This operation will also restore the slack in the cord 31, and will permit the actuating arm 25 to move toward the right, thereby reestablishing the electrical connection to the outlet [8.

It will be noted that the proper set position of the trip lever 32 will be determined by the engagement of the upper abutment 38 of the reset rod 4! with the threaded rod 34. Thus, the finger 3| will lie in the path of the lug 36, so that the arm 2'! may actuate the circuit-breaking means after the desired interval.

While there has been disclosed in this specifica tion one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a radio time switch, the combination comprising a horizontal base support, a bracket upstanding therefrom and having a horizontal pivot, a bell crank operating trip member swingable on said pivot, a horizontally extending arm fixed to a lower portion of said trip member, reset rod provided with a vertical through slot slidably mounted in said base support, said horizontally extending arm extending through said vertical slot, the center of gravity of said trip member bein located above said pivot at all times and being capable of lying selectively on either side thereof, the ends of said slot being operative to limit the extent of passage of trip member over said pivot, a cirouit breaking device, means to loosely link. trip member to said circuitbrealiing device, a timing mechanism com-- prising a rotating arm driven at a constant speed adapted to engage directly with and overturn said trip m mber, whereby the weight of said trip member will operate said circuit-breaking means.

2. lhe invention as defined in claim 1 wherein slidably mounted reset rod is provided with manually operable means to turn said trip member to inoperative position.

The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said slidably mounted reset rod is provided with spring actuated means to hold said reset rod at one position, and also to allow selective manual sliding thereof to a second position, said sliding being operative to return said trip member to inoperative position.

JOSEPH C. DABKOWSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,780 Knight Sept. 10, 1840 733,530 Zwicker July 14, 1903 922,256 Callaway 1 May 18, 1909 1,022,708 Smith Apr. 9, 1912 1,026,905 Cauble May 21, 1912 1,137,517 Nelson Apr. 27, 1915 

